Malaria Vaccine Delivery via DNA and Adenovirus

Mice were anesthetized by intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection with 0.1 mg/10 g body weight with a cocktail of; Zoletil Forte (250 mg/ml, Virbac), Rompun (20 mg/ml, Bayer Animal Health GMBH), and Fentanyl (50 µg/ml, Actavis). All DNA vaccines were purified by EndoFree Plasmid Mega Kit (Qiagen) and dissolved in sterile 0.9% NaCl solution (B. Braun). For intramuscular (i.m.) delivery of DNA vaccines, mice were shaved on each leg, and 25 µg of PfRH5ΔNL-containing DNA or 2.5 µg of PvDBP-containing DNA was injected in a 50 µl volume into each quadriceps femoris muscle (50 µg or 5 µg total DNA/mouse, respectively). Immediately after injection, electrical pulses were applied at the injection site (Elgen 1000 Needle Electroporator, Inovio Biomedical Co., Blue Bell, PA, USA) as described (24 (link)). 1x10¹⁰ infectious units (IU)/mouse were injected i.m. with AdHu5 containing PfRH5FL (33 (link)) in the adenoviral boost.